I’ve been seeing my friends who are big Star Wars fans review the new Star Wars movie (I’m not even sure what it is called). I decided that I would write my own review from the perspective of someone who has seen the Star Wars movies but isn’t terribly invested in them.
My husband was given a special opportunity to see the movie Thursday night at Studio Movie Grill. (Thanks Dell EMC and VM Ware!!) Who am I to pass up dinner and a movie for free?? I’ve seen all of the other movies, so I figured I’d at least sort of enjoy it. And I would definitely enjoy a night out with my husband before we head to Florida to spend 7 days of non-stop family time.
So you can judge my level of Star Wars knowledge and interest, here are my descriptions of the characters as I remember them:
- Luke Skywalker (duh–everyone knows him)
- Princess Leia (<sob> Carrie Fisher)
- Ray (or however you spell it–but I know she is supposed to be the star now)
- That one guy who used to be Storm Trooper
- That one guy who is a pilot
- Kylo Ren (everyone knew he would be back)
- Laura Dern with Hunger Games Hair
- Creepy bad guy who I can’t remember if he was in the last movie or not
- New girl who I like
- Benicio Del Toro?
- The cute chicken-penguin like things that all the kids are going to want now
As far as what I remember from the prior movies:
- Ray (oh…it’s Rey) was good
- Kylo Ren is Darth Vader type bad
- Luke is hiding on a mountain
- Han is dead
- The Rebels are still the underdogs
- I got a little confused in the last one and had to ask my husband questions
So that’s where I started the movie. If you know a lot more than that, you may want to go read the deep reviews my friends wrote. If you are at about the same place I am, I can tell you that you will likely enjoy the movie. It had all of the typical Star Wars elements (cute creatures, light sabers, fight sequences, very slight romance, familial bonds, robots (droids??), and creepy bad guys.
You definitely had to have at least seen the last movie to understand a lot of what was going on. And you’ll feel like you need to see the next movie to be happy. That said, it isn’t such a cliff hanger that you leave the theatre groaning and pulling out your hair wondering how you are going to be able to wait to see how it all ends.
It’s hard to talk about much specific without giving away things that make the movie interesting to watch. There are a couple of little surprise throwbacks for the old school fans. There are some funny lines that almost seem a little forced but are typical for the series in my opinion.
Probably the biggest commentary on all of it is the “girl power.” Especially in light of all that is going on in the news and our society right now, it’s nice to see an action movie that isn’t so blatantly female that you feel like they are trying to prove a point but is also heavy in terms of female casting and how brave and integral those females are. It neither felt like they were pushing an agenda nor making the women the perennial victims who need saving. It was a great balance (kind of like The Force…which is, of course, at the heart of the movies).
Overall, I was glad to have seen it on the big screen. If my kids wanted to go, I would pay to see it again with them. If they want to wait until DVD, I wouldn’t insist that they HAVE to see it at the movies because it is so incredibly awesome.
One final note is that everyone on social media is soon going to be talking about some major things that happen in this movie. For that reason you may want to see it if you don’t want to have a couple of big things spoiled for you. I can think of at least 2 that will likely get talked about for various reasons. If you are enough of a Star Wars fan to care about spoilers, you should probably hit the movie theatre this weekend!
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